The ‘SPAC King’ has lost his crown: Chamath Palihapitiya, one of the key figures who fueled the 2020 SPAC mania, is winding down two of his blank-check firms after failing to find targets, and will return more than USD 1.5 bn to investors. Most of the companies taken public by Palihapitiya, the self-anointed Warren Buffett of this generation, have seen their share prices plunge this year amid tightening financial conditions. (Statement)

Shocker: Aramco CEO wants more investment in fossil fuels: The CEO of Saudi Aramco has pinned the blame on the current global energy crisis on underinvestment in fossil fuels, saying in a speech yesterday that if investment doesn’t rise spare capacity could be destroyed once demand rebounds, according to Bloomberg. “When the global economy recovers, we can expect demand to rebound further, eliminating the little spare oil production capacity out there,” Nasser said. “By the time the world wakes up to these blind spots, it may be too late to change course. I am seriously concerned.” An increase in investment this year is “too little, too late” and won’t make up for what happened after 2014 when investment fell from USD 700 bn to USD 300 bn last year, he said.

Nasdaq makes a crypto push: The second largest US stock exchange has launched a digital assets unit to lure institutional investors into digital currency, a company exec reportedly told Bloomberg. The tech-heavy index will offer custody services for BTC and ETH, competing against crypto trading firms including Coinbase, Anchorage Digital and BitGo and could launch a crypto exchange depending on the regulatory and competitiveness landscape.

But Enterprise, isn’t crypto going through a bleak midwinter? The Nasdaq is optimistic about institutional interest despite the recent crypto crunch, which has seen BTC plunge 58.9% so far this year to trade around USD 18.9. “We believe this next wave of the revolution is going to be driven by mass institutional adoption,” Ira Auerbach, the index’s new digital currency head, tells the business newswire.

Also worth noting:

• IPO Watch: Chinese EV maker Leapmotor is looking to raise up to HKD 8.1 bn (USD 1.0 bn) in what would be Hong Kong’s largest IPO this year. Leapmotor will set a per-share price of between HKD 48-62, with trading set to begin on 29 September. (Release, pdf)
• TotalEnergies wants more of Qatar’s huge LNG project: The French energy giant will add to its 25% stake in the project as European countries go in search of new energy suppliers to replace Russian fossil fuels. (Bloomberg)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.6% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.04 bn (8.6% above the 90-day average). Regional investors were net sellers. The index is down 16.2% YTD.

In the green: Fawry (+6.2%), Elsewedy Electric (+5.1%) and Madinet Nasr Housing (+4.5%).

In the red: Eastern Company (-1.3%), Ibnsina Pharma (-1.2%) and Alexandria Containers (-0.8%).